DreamWorks Dragons: The Series (Rated TV-PG for moderate violence) is a television series based on the film and its sequel. It began airing on Cartoon Network on Tuesday, September 4, 2012, having to release a new episode every Wednesday.[1] Producer Tim Johnson has declared that the series will be "dark" and "deep".[2]The show reveals more new species of dragons including the dragons from the Book of Dragons special. The series' musical score is written by John Paesano. Season 1 of the series is called Dragons: Riders of Berk, and Season 2 is called Dragons: Defenders of Berk. Season 3 with the name Race to the Edge, has been confirmed to be available on Netflix in the Spring of 2015. While it still takes place before How to Train Your Dragon 2, it will feature the characters in their old designs or the designs in Dawn of the Dragon Racers.

Contents

Plot

After Hiccup Horrorendous Haddock III discovered dragons could be trained, the Isle of Berk appeared to be safe, until its residents realized how many dragons there actually are! Now the battle against enemies as they explore worlds they never dreamed existed.[3]Also, the relationships between Hiccup and Astrid, and Toothless, and Stoick will be further expanded upon.

Upcoming seasons

All-new seasons of the award-winning series DreamWorks Dragons will be available to Netflix members in all territories, including France and Germany, beginning in spring 2015.

"We are happy to be adding Dragons to our growing slate of original series for kids," said Cindy Holland, Netflix Vice President, Original Content." This is one of DreamWorks Animation’s most beloved set of characters and we know that kids and families will be enjoying them for years to come.[4]

Production

Based on DreamWorks Animation’s hit How to Train Your Dragon films, the new episodes bridge the gap between the first feature film and the much-anticipated sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2, hitting theaters this summer. Weaving a continuous storyline, the television series works in tandem with the feature films and DVD specials, allowing fans to delve deeper into dragon lore. From the origin of Hiccup’s new flight suit and the secrets of his dragon blade to the young Viking’s budding romance with Astrid, DreamWorks Dragons on Netflix gives viewers rich details of the larger narrative with the introduction of new dragons, exotic places and worlds unknown.

Jay Baruchel and America Ferrera who voice the two young Viking heroes in the feature film return to the television series to voice Hiccup and Astrid, and are joined by Christopher Mintz-Plasse and TJ Miller who will reprise their roles as Fishlegs and Tuffnut in the series.

“The How to Train Your Dragon franchise has been incredible to work with,” said Art Brown and Douglas Sloan, show runners on DreamWorks Dragons. "There is so much rich material available to us in the TV world that we can really dig in and create a different yet complementary experience to the feature films."

Seasons three and four will each consist of 26 episodes adding for a total of 52 new episodes and they will place between season 2 and How to Train Your Dragon 2 .

Wondercon Anaheim will feature a panel hosting an exclusive sneak peek of the upcoming 3rd season on April 5th 2015, along with other DreamWorks shows featured on Netflix.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut's dragon is confirmed with the name Barf and Belch.[6]

An exclusive one hour sneak peek was aired on August 7th, 2012.

Alvin the Treacherous is introduced with a 2 part episode. These are episodes 5 & 6.

Hiccup, Heather and Snotlout are the only known Viking teens on Berk that don't have blonde hair.

The bonds between the Vikings and their dragons seem stronger in the TV show than in the books.

Much like Hiccup does not wear his helmet when flying after Toothless managed to retrieve it in Gift of the Night Fury, he hasn't yet worn it in the show. Other then not wanting to accidentally risk losing it again, another reason could be that since it was made from the remaining half of his mother's breastplate, it is an important memento that can not be replaced.

In the movie and the shorts, Hiccup wears a rider's vest when he's flying on Toothless but he so far has not worn it once in the series. This is likely to avoid having to make a separate graphic of him wearing it and hooking his safety lines to Toothles' saddle every time he flies, and to simplify the storylines of the series (such as the many times he mounts and dismounts Toothless). In the second movie, it shows him unhooking his lines.

In Book of Dragons, they seem to be very knowledgeable of all dragons, but in the series, they seem to have no clue on new dragons. Example: they seem to know all the facts on the Whispering Death and know how to train it by brushing its teeth, but in Riders of Berk, when Toothless' rival appears, they have no clue how to train it. And when they see the Changewings, they have to look at the Book of Dragons to identify it and learn about it, even though in the animated short they knew exactly what it does. This is probably because the series takes place before Book of Dragons.

Although some of the clothing the characters wore like Hiccup's vest and Fishlegs' tunic were made from fur in the movie, they take on a more leathery look in the show due to budget constraints.

From the end of the Movie and in the Shorts, we see that most of the people on Berk has a dragon. In the series however, it is frequently mentioned or showed that the only people on Berk who has and rides dragons are the teens. This is probably due to the budget of the show.

It appears that the further the series went, the better the animation got. An example would be with the early episodes. It appears as if emotions are shown through the eyebrows, but the eyes seem dull. By the second season, the faces of characters appear to conform more to the movie than before and eyes can show emotion without the help of eyebrows.

In the films, there are many dragons flying around Berk, but in the series only the teens' dragons are shown. This is especially clear in episode five of 'Riders of Berk', where only those five dragons seem to be exiled. This is possibly due to budget and time not allowing them to add the other dragons.

Throughout every episode Toothless' tail fin is constantly open without folding even slightly, not once. This should allow Toothless to fly freely but he remains grounded.

Toothless isn't completely incapable of taking off the ground, still managing to hover over the ground. In the series Toothless is all but useless with flying without Hiccup.

Toothless is left in the cove and on Dragon Island in two separate episodes by Hiccup, he must have forgotten the saying which caused him to make Toothless' tail in the first place which was "If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

Gallery

Torch's mom

Alvin the Treacherous in the series

Torch

Hiccup rides Toothless in the series

An example of the graphics quality in tv series

Hiccup and Astrid remain friends in the series

Stormfly is the Nadder ridden by Astrid

The series has all of the kids from the movie as well as their dragons

Meatlug and Fishlegs

Hiccup and Toothless's relationship grows stronger in the series

Hiccup in RoB. Note the slightly less emotional, more bland CGI rendering.